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The Guitar Toolkit

Review Date: September, 23

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Sometimes you simply have to marvel at some of the apps that arrive on the iTunes Apps Store. My current app love comes in the form of the guitar toolkit. A really simple yet comprehensive suite of tools for guitarists of any level.

I have been playing guitar for a fair number of years and in many ways of become lazy when it comes down to chord voicing and even the scales I use for improvisation. It is hard to believe that guitar inspiration can come via an iPhone app but it has ! The Guitar Toolbox covers everything with a few really nice unexpected bonuses.

Chromatic TunerUsing the iPhone’s microphone, GuitarToolkit provides a highly accurate chromatic tuner. You can tune to any musical note, or use one of more than 40 alternate tunings.

ScalesChoose from a list of scales for each note. You can even see scales for each of the 40-plus alternate tunings. The interactive fretboard means you can just touch a note to hear exactly what it sounds like.

Simply pick, tap or touch each string to play the associated note. The application covers the full range of scales and modes.

Chord LibraryWith over 260 chord maps and 1,500 variations, you can ditch those chord books you’ve been carrying around. Better still the application allows you to listen to what the chord should sound like.

Yes, simply strum your iPhone and it is like strumming the strings of an actual guitar. You can strum or pick each note individually.

MetronomeGuitarToolkit also includes a highly-accurate metronome with 13 different sound effects and 12 time signatures.

The metronome also includes a visible flash option and a tempo tap pad.

It is refreshing to take a progression and apply a completely different set of chord voicings, this is particularly relevant in finger style guitar and to be honest on more than one occasion I have found the different voicing inspiration for completely different progressions.

It really is impossible to fault this application, it is stunning and the perfect companion to any budding Joe Satriani. The application comes in a lite version aimed at iPod Touch owners (i.e. no mic for tuner support). Click here for more information on both versions. Even if you aren’t interested in scales or different ways to play particular chords the chromatic tuner is worth it alone ! 5/5